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| Fisheries and the Evolution of Resource Management on the Lower Amazon Floodplain |
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Reference |
| McGrath, David G. et al.: " Fisheries and the Evolution of Resource Management on the Lower Amazon Floodplain.", DRAFT, unpublished paper. |
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Introduction to the Institution |
| ECOLOGICAL CONTEXT: The Ribeirinho people (Varzeiros) of the lower Amazon floodplains (Varzea) live in a complex eco-system which has many subsystems and changes a lot during a year. The Varzea is defined as the area of either side of the main channel of the Amazon river which is periodically annundated by the lateral overflow of the waters of the Amazon river. The lower Amazon Varzea averages about 45 km. in width and covers a total area of 18.000 sq. km. (app.). On both sides of the main channel we will find Restingas, landstrips which can be used for farming and grazing. On the other side of the Restinga, the varzea lakes used for fishing, are located. Again there will come a Restinga and finally we will see Paranas, river channels which border up to the mainland (fig. 2). River channels will flow back and forth across the floodplain, carving the landscape into islands. The size of the varzea lakes varies from a few thousand square meters to several hundred square kilometers, but they rarely exceed 4 meters depth. Annually the whole system will be flooded by the river waters, infusing nutritient-rich waters to the varzea. The river will begin to rise in November, reaching maximum height in May or June. Then it will fall to reach minimum level by the end of october. The rainy season is from December til June. Thus, from November\December till June, water is plentifull, while July to November is dry season. SOCIO/ECO-CONTEXT |
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Coverage of the Institution |
| Geographical and historical coverage is not reported. The institution is concurrent. |
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Rules for Management
of the Institution |
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(a) Boundary Rules |
| SPATIAL BOUNDARIES: The areas of the lower Amazon floodplains which inhavbited by the Varzeiros.
SOCIAL BOUNDARIES: Ribeirinhos and outsiders using the resources within the spatial boundaries. |
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(b) Governance
rules |
| Control over a lake is usually based on either ownership of lake shorefront property or on a tradition of access to a lake. As no single rightholders in the community have a sufficiently large piece of property to establish a meaningfull fishing territory, the lake will be managed collectively by the community. No further information is reported. |
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(c) Resource Allocation |
| The following ways of regulating resource allocation are not taken from any specific Ribeirinho community, they are merely examples of what strategies have been applied to improve resource management.
- Varzeiro communities have chosen to opt for separate fishing territories based on the distribution of land among the members.
- In order to regulate fishery, catches have been limited by restricting equipment for fishery and for preservation of fish.
- The use of gillnets has been suspended from october till december/january when water levels are very low.
- Fishermen have been prohibited from selling their catch outside the community.
- The use of motorized boats on the lakes has been prohibited.
- Fishermen have only been allowed to use one styrofoam container of ice, thus limitting the amount of fish which can be preserved.
- The use of ice has been prohibited alltogether.
- Fisheries have been restricted in deeper lakes, were fishkills due to deoxygenation is rare. These deeper lakes are regarded as refuges for the lake fish population during the dry season. |
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Conflict Resolution Mechanism |
| outside commercial fishermen (geleiros vrs. ribeirinhos)closing lakes |
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Problems Faced by Institution |
| decline agriculture, expansion of cattle ranching on the varzea (restingas?), intensification of commercial fisheries. Pressure from large scale fishermen. Pressure on Amazonian fishing resources. |
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Changes in the Institution over time |
| Traditionally, the Varzeiros based their economy on multiple resource use including agriculture, fishing and small-scale stock raising. In the old resource management system, Restingas were used for growing cash crops, mainly jute, and grazing cattle. Fishing took place in the main channel and the varzea lakes. Jute production has now declined, and development of more effective fishing technologies, mainly concerning transportation (motorboats) and storage of fish (styrofoam containers with ice instead of salting), has increased the influence of commercial fishery by making the acces to the floodplains easier to outsiders. This has lead to disturbances in the traditional resource management systems. making the Ribeirinhos alter their subsistence strategies so that fishing has become the primary economic activity. Thus, institutions were set up to control the varzea lakes, as the dependence on these, and the degree of intervention from outsiders, grew.(See ResA) |
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Purpose |
| Resource management. |
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Country |
| Brazil |
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Region |
| Lower Amazon Floodplains, (Baixo). |
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Date Of Publication |
| TroB 190396 |
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